Are you brave enough?

[green.bubbly]

i was browsing around harborfreight.com looking for a drywall lift and came across this. No way in hell I would work under this thing!

 

[turbotuner20v]

haha, damn, never seen something so big, so high on one of those. Usually the vehicle is just a foot or 2 off the ground for brake/tire/suspension work.

 

[9c1nova]

Saw one of these down the road from me. It was replacing some 4" X 4" wood fence posts used to hold a small import car to work underneath!!!!
Sorry, not my cup of tea.

 

[Super Sport]

I love how a 20 year old minivan is the vehicle used for example.

 

[Chris Adams]

I love how a 20 year old minivan is the vehicle used for example.

Um, it wasn't '20 years old' when the picture was taken. I remember that picture from HF years and years ago.
It was old then...

As to using it?
I would.
I have a US made Rotary I work under all the time.
A floor lift like that is a heck of a lot safer than stuff I see every day.
While the lift looks overwhelmed, a mini-van ain't all that heavy for it's bulk. That sucker probably has a 4 cylinder.
When I lift my F-150 (over 5k lbs) with my little Rotary, it looks worse than that.
I can slam the doors, climb in the bed, bleed brakes whatever.


Ever think, your car is only touching the ground with about the same foot print as two people, right this second?
Or going into a curve at 90 miles an hour?

Square and solid makes the lift.

 

[green.bubbly]

As to using it?
I would.
I have a US made Rotary I work under all the time.
A floor lift like that is a heck of a lot safer than stuff I see every day.
While the lift looks overwhelmed, a mini-van ain't all that heavy for it's bulk. That sucker probably has a 4 cylinder.
When I lift my F-150 (over 5k lbs) with my little Rotary, it looks worse than that.
I can slam the doors, climb in the bed, bleed brakes whatever.


Ever think, your car is only touching the ground with about the same foot print as two people, right this second?
Or going into a curve at 90 miles an hour?

Square and solid makes the lift.

Yeah and standing at the edge of a cliff is also safe but it does not feel that way.

 

[Chris Adams]

Yeah and standing at the edge of a cliff is also safe but it does not feel that way.

Excellent point.

 

[Capt Chrysler]

No biggie! Body shops around here have had them for years. A buddy has 2 in his hot rod shop.

But, I set my 36 Ford coupe body on sideways one night.

All I'm going to say is, Gravity is powerfull!


Capt. Chrysler

 

[kursplat]

just need 4 big jack stands

 

[BigAl62]

As far as I'm concerned if that van dropped it would be the best thing for it! (I always hated those Aerostars!)

 

[Jack Olsen]

I know a lot of people with that lift. I've never heard of anyone with a problem. It's got a solid reputation.

(The Aerostar, on the other hand...)

 

[scottybaccus]

and don't work under it, work beside it. It's designed for wheel and suspension service only. It actually obstructs the underside a good deal, except for the ends.

 

[JimVonBaden]

I know a lot of people with that lift. I've never heard of anyone with a problem. It's got a solid reputation.

(The Aerostar, on the other hand...)

I've put thousand pound bikes on this HF unit. I see no reason not to trust the car lift.

Jim

 

[mx757]

I have a Mohawk USL-6000 sissor lift but the Mohawk steel is twice as thick...more beefy and whole lift weight 2000 pounds vs maybe 600 pounds for the HF lift.

I've seen the HF lift, its cheap... china made **** compared to the Mohawk..

 

[RobSmith]

If you're worried about a collapse. Put a length of timber vertically under the car near where you are working...if the thing collapses the timber will cause the car to tilt and fall away from you so you can run away,save your life and change your undies !

 

[geologist]

I used to have a 98' S10 and the exhaust needed fixin' so I took it down to "Uncle Tony". Tony had a rather successful garage for decades, but had basically been out of business for years for various reasons. He had one of those old hydraulic lifts embedded into the floor of his shop, with a compressor system that manipulated the hydraulic fluid. Unfortunately, after years of setting idle, apparently the seals or the sleeve had developed a major issue, and he nearly shot my truck through the ceiling of his shop. That was the scariest shop experience I've ever had with a lift. The lift ended up coming to a halt about 2 feet above the floor, but it only missed the ceiling by a couple of inches at best (snapped my antenna).

 

[Steevo]

I'm with Jack. I'd be more afraid to drive the Aerostar than to work on it like that.

 

[Daniel Dudley]

I know a lot of people with that lift. I've never heard of anyone with a problem. It's got a solid reputation.

(The Aerostar, on the other hand...)

This ^^^^

 

[Pate]

My neighbor has one and we put my Expedition on it. I wasn't sure it was a good idea, but he has put trucks on it before. It worked out better than I expected.

 

[CARS]

I used to have a 98' S10 and the exhaust needed fixin' so I took it down to "Uncle Tony". Tony had a rather successful garage for decades, but had basically been out of business for years for various reasons. He had one of those old hydraulic lifts embedded into the floor of his shop, with a compressor system that manipulated the hydraulic fluid. Unfortunately, after years of setting idle, apparently the seals or the sleeve had developed a major issue, and he nearly shot my truck through the ceiling of his shop. That was the scariest shop experience I've ever had with a lift. The lift ended up coming to a halt about 2 feet above the floor, but it only missed the ceiling by a couple of inches at best (snapped my antenna).

It was low on fluid. The air took the fluid's place and acted like an airbag.

I have a in-floor 2 post lift that did the same thing. 40 gallons of fluid later it stopped bouncing. Then I started fixing all the leaks (still fixing leaks)

 

[flat350]

Seems to be safer than this method

 

[Northstar]

I used to work in a dealership that used those in thier bodyshop. They did lots of higher end cars like BMW, Infinity, Lexus, etc and that lift looks like 1/2 of the whole assembly. You lift with the scissors jack, then support as shown with the posts. Ironically, the supports look even less stable.

Shown is a Nissan XTerra (IIRC) that was getting a new frame.